AND ANOTHER SATURDAY!
Where do they all come from. This endless succession of Saturday’s. I have found a surprise for you.
10.56 am I will take some pictures – stand by.
Ok! 11.30 already – I got side-tracked helping Victoria and Jon ( my guests – you remember Victoria – she used to be a woofer and has been a regular visitor since) – they are building the electric fence to enclose the new field for Poppy’s Six and Poppy.
They are going to get lost in there! 
Anyway the surprise. Wait I will get that shot.
Not that either! I got distracted AGAIN by ducks playing in the sprinkler! Hope this loads for you! It took forever to load ON to the page. Maybe I should have gone through Instagram.
3pm.
The cows are out in their new field. The electric fence is finished. The new pig field is in the foreground the cows field in the back. The joys of electric fencing. 
Ok – finally . The surprise. You know how we have been getting less and less duck eggs – well I have discovered why!
One duck has made a hidden nest right by the barn doors – shielded by a group of tall weeds. A beautiful nest too made with a pile of downy feathers. And with about ( after a quick glance) twenty eggs in there. Plus I saw another duck run in under the bush and come out a while later so I think there are at least two laying in there but maybe only one sitting.
I hope – otherwise it is going to get a bit crowded.
She is very hard to see and hisses if I get too close. This is the best I could do. 
You are just going to have to take my word for it. She is in there. 
Now, of course, I have a conundrum- do I build a fence around her so Boo cannot get to her ducklings – if in fact she hatches any. But would that make her panic? The building of it ? And she has created her nest in a corner against the big door that is very difficult to enclose for one reason and another. Plus it is a high traffic area.
Best to let her hatch them then herd the little family into the bird hospital?
I am going to think further.
But how about that for a bit of fun! Maybe ducklings on the way. Everything would be a lot easier if Boo was better with baby birds. I will have to watch him carefully. And the duck.
A duck eggs gestation period is 28 days but I think she has. Even missing at least a week already – maybe 10 days. So that number is not useful. 
We are seeding a field in oats today. Pat’s Paddock. I will keep it closed until October. We are so short of feed now that I need to think of greens for the late summer. Of course there are assorted grains from the Mill thrown into the hopper as well. I never was much for mono-culture of any kind. Diversity is so healthy.
3pm!
Have a great day!
Cecilia
Sunny and warm – perfect summer day!
33 Comments on “AND ANOTHER SATURDAY!”
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Ha ha – in my experience, drakes are quite efficient at fertilising all the eggs in a harem, so in theory you could gather eggs and put them in an incubator from all the ladies, but it would be nice to see it happen naturally.
I had an girlfriend, years ago, who’s family lived in a Lincolnshire village with a small stream running down the middle of the street. One spring, there must have been at least 100 ducklings swimming up and down – it was an amazing sight.
Too true Mad Dog! There are few things in this world as Precious as fuzzy, peeping, baby ducklings: )
The sprinkler is such a great idea! And I just love watching those ducks waddle around, they are so cute!
A broody duck. I hope they do hatch. More ducks!
I loved running through sprinklers when I was little. Half human, half duck obviously. They are charming.
so wonderful. I was thinking today of farms and ranches I worked in my youth. And worked around my garden today. (not the) only thing missing are pigs, ducks, hay, and electric fences…. but that’s what your post supplied!
Sneaky duck 😉
Aw… more “children” for you to play with!
Bless her! I hope her babies come into the world safe and sound. A nice surprise, thank you!
Not to add to your work load, but I also think the incubator idea is splendid. Those sneaky girls! But loved the sprinkler video.
I did not intend to hatch ducklings so if they do they do – if not never mind. I have plenty
Let’s just hope that all of Momma’s hard work is not in vain! And (knocking wood) just think of all those fuzzy duckling photos: ) ♥️♥️♥️
If I can get close!
The video worked wonderfully and I loved watching the ducks play in the sprinkler. So happy you have help. Time is on race mode.
Next spring duckling order sorted ✅ Laura
‘Zactly!!: )
I can see her in there! That is so sweet! Ducklings! Yay! Did you ever find Mrs. Flowers?
She’s obviously exceptional, as I’ve always found ducks to be very bad sitters. I hope the stars align, she hatches them, you spot them before the wildlife and Boo see them, and that you’ll have a nice flock of little cheepers to show us one of these days.
I think it depends on the breed but these are also crossed so who knows what her ducklings might look
Like.
And it looks to be a very pleasant Saturday… fingers crossed for ducklings.
Ducklings are pretty cute but we will see. The barnyard is pretty hard on tiny birds –
a fence is a good idea, because extra ducks laying in nest will soon have too many for her to cover, and few will hatch. ducks are bad mothers if left to themselves. they will go everywhere, and not care if babies follow or not. a fence for a week or so is good idea to contain till babies grow and can follow mama. and with multiple ducks laying, as soon as a few hatch, she will leave the nest, so it is a good idea to have incubater ready to hatch stragglers that will hatch in next few days after first eggs hatch.
Ron! I have started her enclosure and once they are hatched and she is off I will move them straight to a bigger one. Thank you – good idea about the stragglers – I will get the incubator out and give it a test run.
LOL! Oh yeah, she is definitely giving you the Evil Eye!
I like the pig.
I know. If you lived closer I would give you a chair and sit you in the field under a tree with a book and a well fed pig. I think you might like that.
Yes I think I would. I have never been to a farm or around animals.
One day.
I guess it’s not possible to sneak in and candle a few of the eggs if she is all hissy.
I did try but saw nothing. Very dark – so either close to being hatched or duck egg shells too thick?
If they are close to hatching, it is VERY hard to see anything but black.
delightful ducks and perhaps we’ll see fuzzy ducklings!